Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Our school only serves students with Florida residential addresses.

No. Our school serves students statewide.

No. There is no state law requiring private schools to be accredited.

Enrollment is open year-round.

For students in grades K–8, our enrollment fee is $45 for new students and $35 for returning students. For students in grades 9–12, our enrollment fee is determined by grade level and program type and ranges between $45 and $345 for new students and between $35 and $335 for returning students. More information is found on our New Students and Current and Returning Students pages.

Enrollments are processed Monday through Friday within three business days of receipt of the required documentation and payment. We offer expedited services (same day and Saturday enrollments) for an additional fee.

No. You must notify your school district if your child was previously in a home education program or public school. See our FAQs about notifying school officials for more information.

Yes. If you would like to start your school year on a specific date, just include your preferred start date on your enrollment form. This must be a future date. We cannot backdate enrollments. We cannot register a student without the required health records.

Your child's term begins on the day your child is enrolled unless a future start date is requested on your enrollment form.

As long as your child has maintained regular attendance during his or her current school term, you are welcome to re-enroll your child to establish a new school term. Just send us your attendance record and a Returning Student Enrollment Form specifying the future date you would like to begin the new school term.

When your child is ready to change grade levels, just send us your attendance record and re-enroll. Students must be re-enrolled with each grade change. To be eligible for re-enrollment, your child must have maintained regular attendance during his or her current term.

No. Parents are not required to keep a portfolio. We do recommend you keep a portfolio, though, especially throughout your child's high school years. Some colleges and universities require applicants who complete a home school program or graduate from a non-accredited high school to submit portfolios to be considered for admission.

We do not provide evaluations or require that parents have their children evaluated. Some parents want to have their children evaluated, though, so we've compiled a list of assessment resources here as a starting point. You'll may also find our directory of Florida evaluators at iamhomeschooling.com helpful.

The only record keeping we require is attendance. You must keep records that document your child's absence or attendance for each school day and show regular school attendance of at least 180 days for each school year. See our FAQs about attendance requirements for more information.

No. Students are not required to take Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS) Assessments or Florida Standard Assessments (FSA), including End-of-Course (EOC) assessments. Students may participate in EOC assessments, if desired, and there are certain circumstances in which students should participate. Learn More

We provide online curriculum to our students through an agreement with Florida Virtual School (FLVS). However, enrolling in FLVS courses is optional. We encourage you to use what works best for your child.

No. Students enrolled at Aspiring Heights Academy are not eligible to participate in interscholastic activities.

We need the following:

• A photocopy of your child's birth certificate;
• A school-entry health exam dated within one year of your child's enrollment date;
• A valid immunization certificate; and
• An enrollment form.

Please read through these FAQs and our New Student Enrollment page for more information.

If you do not have your child's birth certificate, we will accept one of the following:

• A duly attested transcript of a certificate of baptism showing the date of birth and place of baptism of your child, accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by you;
• An insurance policy on your child’s life that has been in force for at least 2 years;
• A bona fide contemporary religious record of your child’s birth accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by you; or
• A passport or certificate of arrival in the United States showing the age of your child.

If you do not have any of the above, and your child was born in Florida, you can request your child's birth record from the Florida Department of Health. If your child was born in a different state, you can find out where to write for vital records at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If your child's birth certificate was provided to his or her previous school, we can request it from the school with your signed authorization. You must provide your child's birth certificate for Kindergarten entrance.

Certification of a school entry health examination does not have to be documented on DH Form 3040, but the examination must have been performed within one year of their enrollment date. We can accept a signed statement by an authorized professional that indicates the results of the components included in the health examination.

If your child's health exam was provided to his or her previous school, we can request it from the school with your signed authorization.

If you recently moved to Florida from another state, you must have your child's vaccination history transferred to Florida's Form DH 680, Certification of Immunization. This form is completed by Florida county health departments and private healthcare providers. Please read our article on vaccines and immunizations for more information about Florida's immunization requirements.

All private schools are required to have this information pursuant to Florida Statute 1003.22.

We do not need elementary or middle school records. We only need high school transcripts for students enrolling into our diploma program.

We take the security of your and your children's personal information seriously. Our students' permanent school records are stored in locked, fire-proof file cabinets, and documents containing obsolete personal information are shredded and destroyed. Digital records are kept offline on password protected drives. We do not use outside sources or third party services (e.g.; Google's services or cloud storage) to store personal information, and we do not share our students' records unless required by law without explicit parental/guardian or student consent.

If your child is not enrolled in any Florida home education program, public school, or private school, then you do not need to notify anyone of your educational choice to enroll your child in our school.

Students enrolled at Aspiring Heights Academy are private school students–not homeschool students as defined in s. 1002.41. You do not send a notice of intent to establish a home education program to your district school superintendent if you enroll your child in our school.

If your child is currently enrolled as a public school student, then you will need to withdraw your child from the public school. Your district school will have a form for you to complete. They will ask where your child is going so that they can assign the appropriate withdrawal code. Make sure you specify that your child is (or will be) enrolled in a private school, not a home education program.

Some schools prefer that parents withdraw their children before enrolling them into another school, some schools prefer that parents withdraw their children after enrolling them into another school, and some schools don't have a preference. In any case, be sure to formally withdraw your child in a timely manner to avoid any potential truancy issues. (See Florida Statute 1003.26)

If your child is currently enrolled in another private school, you will need to formally withdraw your child from the other school. Your school may have a particular policy regarding this, but you should only need to provide them with something in writing stating that you are withdrawing your child.

If you are homeschooling in Florida, that is you sent your district school superintendent a notice of intent to establish a home education program, then you must send them a termination notice, along with your child's annual evaluation, within 30 days of your child's enrollment at Aspiring Heights Academy. Your district school may have a form you can download, or you can download a termination notice here. (The requirement to include your child's annual evaluation with your termination notice was added to s. 1002.41(1)(c) in 2018.)

We will send you a customized attendance form on enrollment. You will log the days and total number of hours your child is in school. You must keep complete and accurate attendance records that document the minimum compulsory attendance requirements required by law.  Attendance records are due at the end of your child's school term or upon completion of his or her grade level, which ever comes first. Learn More

Attendance records are submitted annually and on grade level completion. You will send us your attendance record and re-enroll with each grade change. You are welcome to send us your attendance more often. We have parents that send it to us monthly, quarterly, and biannually. Just keep one record (per child) and update it throughout the school year.

Private school students must maintain regular attendance as defined in Florida Rule 6A-1.09512 to be deemed in compliance with Florida's compulsory attendance laws. Recording both days and hours of attendance specifically documents that your child is meeting the state's requirements.

No. You only need to record the total number of instructional hours for the day.

No. Your child's daily instructional hours may vary, but your child must meet the net number of instructional hours required for his or her grade level by the end of the school term. Learn More

As a supervisor of your child's education, you decide what counts as a school day. Field trips, classes at museums and science centers, library activities, co-op classes, and online lessons, to name a few, all count. Instruction does not have to take place in the home.

No, but we recommend you do. You may find it helpful at some point, especially should your child enter or return to a public or traditional private school. You do not need to provide this information to us. Students enrolled in our High School Diploma Program, however, must properly document extracurricular activities to earn high school credit if the credits will not be documented on official transcripts.

No, but we encourage you to do so. We especially recommend you keep a portfolio documenting high school coursework. Many colleges and universities require applicants who complete a home school program or graduate from a non-accredited high school to submit portfolios and/or transcripts to be considered for admission.

Our attendance record is only for documenting attendance at our school, but there is a comment section if you want to make a note. You begin recording your child's attendance on the first day of your child's school term.

No, but you must send us your attendance record and re-enroll your child with each grade level placement.

It's common for students to have less than the required number of hours and days of attendance with mid-term grade changes, but your child must have maintained regular attendance to be eligible for re-enrollment.

Your attendance record will be due one year from your child's term start date or upon grade level completion, which ever comes first. We'll email you a reminder about a month before the end of your child's school term. We'll send you a reminder post card, too, if you'd like.

Provided your child maintained regular attendance, you are welcome to re-enroll to establish a new school term.

Attendance records may be mailed or emailed. Learn More

Florida Virtual School (FLVS) is a state-funded, online K–12 public school that is free to all Florida students through age 19. There are three different Florida Virtual School programs: FLVS Flex Elementary, FLVS Flex (formerly known as FLVS Part Time) and FLVS Full Time.

1 The FLVS Flex Elementary program is designed for students in Kindergarten through fifth grade.

2 The FLVS Flex program offers courses to students in grades six through twelve.

3 FLVS Full Time is online public school. Students enrolled in the FLVS Full Time program follow a traditional 180-day academic calendar, take a standard public school course load, participate in the Florida Statewide Assessment Program, and are eligible for public high school diplomas. There are specific enrollment periods. FLVS is the school of record, so students would not also be enrolled in an umbrella school or in a home education program.

Courses in progress will continue as usual. This applies to courses taken through FLVS Flex, FLVS Flex Elementary, and FLVS Full-Time. When changing physical schools, you may receive an email from FLVS stating that you need to review your current enrollments with the new Physical School Guidance counselor. We will contact you if there are any issues that need to be addressed.

Based on FLVS course registration guidelines for private school students, FLVS Flex students may to take up to six (6) courses at one time. Selecting both segments in a two segment course counts as one course. Students may request an additional course when at least 50% of an active course has been completed.

Classrooms are usually assigned within 48 hours of their courses being verified, but it can sometimes take longer. Once classrooms are assigned, students can begin their courses. If you notice an extended delay, please let us know and we will see if we can expedite placement. Students may request a future start date.

FLVS Flex students work independently. Sometimes students are required to download specific software and/or visit external websites to complete assignments. Assignments are submitted online, including assessments, so students are on the computer a lot. Periodically, students connect with their teachers on the phone for discussion-based assessments. Many courses also require students to attend live lessons. Teachers are (ideally) available from 8AM to 8PM, seven days a week, via phone, text, email and instant messaging, but sometimes they can be hard to reach. Substitute teachers are assigned periodically and during the holidays.

FLVS Flex Elementary students work with their teachers and with the guidance of their parents.

Students are allowed to work at their own pace and on days and at times that work for them, but they are expected to submit work regularly (usually 3-5 assignments a week). Additionally, parents are required to connect with their children's teachers (via phone or email) at least once per month.

Depending on the course, courses can take between 16 and 36 weeks to complete. Courses are divided into segments (semesters), and each segment takes between 16-18 weeks to complete. Some middle school and high school level courses have two segments; some have only one. Students are not required to take both segments of a two segment course. Each high school segment is worth 1/2 credit.

Students may work ahead of pace and finish the course in less time. Also, students may work at a slower pace and finish the course in more time. In either case, it's important that students submit work regularly. We encourage parents and students to reach out to their assigned teachers if they are struggling with the material or the pace.

FLVS gives students a 14 day grace period to try out a course. If a course is too easy, too difficult, or doesn't meet a student's expectations, a student may drop the course without penalty during the first 14 days of being activated in the course. Note that a student may also be withdrawn from a course if the student fails to meet the initial submission requirements during the 14 day grace period.

No. Our students are not required to take EOC assessments. Students may take these tests, if desired. There are also certain circumstances in which students should take these tests. Learn More

This can happen when FLVS starts their new school year. You only need to go into your child's Student Profile and select the correct grade level. Note that FLVS automatically calculates a student's projected graduation date based on his or her grade level.

No. Our High School Diploma Program is optional.

Yes. If you're unsure of your student's high school plans, you're welcome to wait. We recommend you follow our graduation requirements in the meantime. Student's enrolled in our diploma program must complete a minimum of one full semester at Aspiring Heights Academy.

No. Private and home educated students are not required to take Florida Standards Assessments (FSA) or Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS) assessments, including End-of-Course (EOC) assessments. Students may want to take EOC assessments if they may enter or return to public school. Learn More

We will only need your child's transcripts if your child is enrolling in our High School Diploma Program. Students enrolled under our Standard Program do not need to submit transcripts. Learn More

Students enrolled in our High School Diploma Program who meet our graduation requirements will receive a high school diploma. Students who are unable to document their core high school coursework on official transcripts may be eligible to receive a Certificate of Completion. Learn More

Probably not. Current dual enrollment laws discriminate against private school students. Public colleges and universities are only required to enter into articulation agreements with private schools in their geographic area, and they can (and do) charge private schools for their students' dual enrollment tuition. However, if your local college will make exceptions, and your child is enrolled in our High School Diploma Program, then he or she may be able to participate in a dual enrollment program. Learn More

We maintain and provide transcripts for students enrolled in our High School Diploma Program. Learn More

If your child is in grades 9-12 and is NOT enrolled in our high school diploma program, then you may use any curriculum you choose. Students in our High School Diploma Program must have all core courses, credits and grades documented on official high school transcripts. Students who have high school credits documented on accredited homeschool program transcripts or through homeschool portfolios may be eligible to receive a Certificate of Completion. Learn More

Provided specific scholarship eligibility requirements are met, students graduating with an Aspiring Heights Academy diploma are eligible for Bright Futures Scholarships. Learn More